Nvidia is currently a defendant in several class action lawsuits, the largest of which is a securities fraud case alleging the chipmaker hid how much of its 2017–2018 revenue came from cryptocurrency miners. Alongside that case, Nvidia faces a copyright class action from YouTube creators over AI training data, a product-defect suit over melting power connectors on the GeForce RTX 4090, and a recently approved $2.5 million settlement covering its employee 401(k) plan.
The Crypto Mining Securities Fraud Case
The headline case is In re NVIDIA Corporation Securities Litigation, No. 18-cv-07669, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. The lead plaintiffs are two European institutional investors, Swedish fund manager E. Öhman J:or Fonder AB and Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds PGB, which claim combined losses of nearly $11 million.1Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP. In Re NVIDIA Corporation Securities Litigation Lead Plaintiff Order
The suit alleges that during 2017 and 2018, Nvidia’s booming gaming GPU sales were being driven in large part by cryptocurrency miners, while the company publicly credited traditional gaming demand. CEO Jensen Huang told investors that crypto sales were a “small” portion of revenue, pegging the figure at roughly $150 million in a 2018 interview and about $70 million in November 2017. Plaintiffs say those numbers were misleadingly low.2Supreme Court of the United States. Nvidia v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB Response Brief
An analysis by consulting firm Prysm Group estimated Nvidia understated crypto-related GPU sales by $1.126 billion across the period. A separate assessment by the Royal Bank of Canada concluded the company had earned roughly $1.95 billion from mining during the boom, over a billion dollars more than disclosed.2Supreme Court of the United States. Nvidia v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB Response Brief The complaint also draws on statements from anonymous former Nvidia employees describing internal tracking systems that quantified miner demand.3Supreme Court of the United States. Nvidia v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB Opening Brief
When crypto prices collapsed in late 2018, Nvidia’s GPU sales fell with them. On November 15, 2018, the company reported a 7% year-over-year revenue decline and blamed a “sharp falloff in crypto demand.” The stock dropped 28.5% over two trading sessions.4BNN Bloomberg. Nvidia Shareholders Hit the Jackpot, They’re Suing Anyway Plaintiffs say that admission contradicted Nvidia’s earlier assurances and violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Class Certified, Trial Ahead
Judge Gilliam initially dismissed the case twice, in March 2020 and March 2021. The Ninth Circuit reversed in August 2023, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear Nvidia’s appeal before dismissing it as “improvidently granted” on December 11, 2024, leaving the Ninth Circuit’s revival intact.5U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In Re NVIDIA Corporation Securities Litigation Opinion6D&O Diary. Supreme Court Dismisses Nvidia Case
On March 25, 2026, Judge Gilliam certified a class of investors who bought Nvidia stock between August 10, 2017, and November 14, 2018. He rejected Nvidia’s arguments that the alleged misstatements did not affect the stock price and refused to exclude the plaintiffs’ expert testimony.7Bloomberg Tax. Nvidia Investors Gain Class Status in Cryptocurrency Mining Suit8The Recorder. California Judge Certifies Investor Class in Nvidia Crypto Mining Lawsuit
Nvidia asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn certification before trial, backed by amicus briefs from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. On May 26, 2026, the Ninth Circuit denied that petition.9U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In Re NVIDIA Corporation Securities Litigation Fact discovery is ongoing, and no trial date has been set.4BNN Bloomberg. Nvidia Shareholders Hit the Jackpot, They’re Suing Anyway If you bought and sold Nvidia stock inside the class period, you are already a class member unless you opt out.
The Copyright Case Over AI Training Data
In November 2025, YouTube creators sued Nvidia over its generative AI model called “Cosmos.” The named plaintiffs are Ted Entertainment (the company behind h3h3 Productions), golf content creator Matt Fisher, and Golfholics Inc. The case, No. 3:25-cv-10287, was filed in the Northern District of California.10Piracy Monitor. Nvidia Sued for Allegedly Scraping Copyright-Protected Video From YouTube in Potential Class Action
The complaint alleges Nvidia used three academic research datasets — HD-VG-130M, HDVILA-100M, and HowTo100M — that together index millions of YouTube video URLs. Most of those datasets carried licenses restricting use to non-commercial research. Plaintiffs say Nvidia went past those limits, using the open-source tool yt-dlp to download full videos and running virtual machines that rotated IP addresses to evade YouTube’s detection.11ChatGPT Is Eating the World. Ted Entertainment Inc. v. NVIDIA Corporation Complaint
Internal Nvidia messages cited in the complaint describe building a “data factory” capable of generating “a human lifetime visual experience worth of training data per day.” When workers raised concerns about commercial use of copyrighted material, they were reportedly told the team had “umbrella approval” and that the legality was “an open legal issue.”12404 Media. Nvidia AI Scraping Foundational Model Cosmos Project
The suit alleges violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions and seeks statutory damages, injunctive relief, and restitution. A jury trial has been requested. Class certification has not yet been decided.10Piracy Monitor. Nvidia Sued for Allegedly Scraping Copyright-Protected Video From YouTube in Potential Class Action The same group of plaintiffs has filed similar suits against Meta, ByteDance, Snap, OpenAI, Apple, and Amazon.13The Next Web. Amazon Nova Reel YouTubers DMCA Lawsuit
An earlier, narrower case by David Millette raised similar video-scraping claims in August 2024 but was voluntarily dropped in March 2025 before any ruling on the merits.14Bloomberg Law. YouTube Creators Drop AI Training Copyright Suit Against Nvidia The Ted Entertainment complaint is the live case.
The RTX 4090 Melting Power Connector Case
In November 2022, New York resident Lucas Genova filed a class action in the Northern District of California, No. 5:22-cv-07090, alleging that the 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector bundled with Nvidia’s flagship GeForce RTX 4090 has a design defect that causes it to melt, ruining the card and posing a fire hazard.15PCMag. Nvidia Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Melting 12VHPWR Cables According to the complaint, when any one of the connector’s 16 pins temporarily loses contact, the remaining pins carry excessive current and overheat. The claims include unjust enrichment, warranty violations, and fraud.16Tom’s Hardware. PCI-SIG 12VHPWR Nvidia Statement
When the suit was filed, Nvidia had acknowledged roughly 50 melting incidents worldwide. The PCI-SIG, the industry standards body responsible for the connector specification, urged its members to take “appropriate and prudent measures to ensure end user safety.” Nvidia later introduced a redesigned 12V-2×6 connector in newer products.
The Nvidia 401(k) Fee Settlement
If you worked at Nvidia and participated in its retirement plan, a separate class action has already settled. Tobias et al. v. NVIDIA Corporation et al., No. 4:20-cv-06081-JST, alleged Nvidia breached ERISA fiduciary duties by keeping expensive investment funds in its 401(k) and paying excessive recordkeeping and administration fees to Fidelity. The complaint said the plan paid $53 to $63 per participant in recordkeeping fees when comparable plans paid roughly half.17PSCA. Nvidia Finalizes Settlement in Excessive Fee Case
Nvidia agreed to pay $2.5 million. Judge Jon S. Tigar granted preliminary approval in September 2025 and final approval in December 2025.18Bloomberg Law. Nvidia’s $2.5 Million 401(k) Settlement Gets Nod After Hiccup The class covers participants in the Nvidia 401(k) Plan from August 28, 2014, through September 9, 2025. Current participants receive distributions directly into their accounts; former participants receive checks. No claim form is required.19NVIDIA ERISA Settlement. Tobias v. NVIDIA Corporation Long Notice The four named plaintiffs receive $5,000 service awards each, and attorneys’ fees were capped at $833,333.17PSCA. Nvidia Finalizes Settlement in Excessive Fee Case
The Older GTX 970 Settlement
For context on Nvidia’s class action history: in 2015, buyers of the GeForce GTX 970 sued after discovering the card could only properly address 3.5 GB of its advertised 4 GB of memory. Nvidia settled in 2016, paying $30 per card to U.S. buyers and covering $1.3 million in legal fees. The settlement applied only to buyers within the court’s U.S. jurisdiction.20TechPowerUp. Nvidia Settles Class Action Lawsuit Over GTX 970 Memory Claims for that settlement closed years ago.